Investing.com – U.S. equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Technology, Consumer Services and Healthcare sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.44% to hit a new all time high, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.75%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.81%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which rose 2.22% or 6.02 points to trade at 277.62 at the close. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) added 1.96% or 2.69 points to end at 139.96 and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was up 1.83% or 3.03 points to 168.99 in late trade.
Biggest losers included International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM), which lost 4.65% or 6.83 points to trade at 140.01 in late trade. Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) declined 1.29% or 3.09 points to end at 236.64 and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) shed 1.13% or 0.55 points to 48.16.
The top performers on the S&P 500 were Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) which rose 2.87% to 81.82, Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc (NYSE:HLT) which was up 2.62% to settle at 126.86 and CarMax Inc (NYSE:KMX) which gained 2.42% to close at 133.74.
The worst performers were International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) which was down 4.65% to 140.01 in late trade, Coty Inc (NYSE:COTY) which lost 4.51% to settle at 8.890 and Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) which was down 2.44% to 29.23 at the close.
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Sequential Brands Group Inc (NASDAQ:SQBG) which rose 88.07% to 15.610, Alector Inc (NASDAQ:ALEC) which was up 56.94% to settle at 35.17 and Bridgeline Digital Inc (NASDAQ:BLIN) which gained 55.13% to close at 8.920.
The worst performers were Iterum Therapeutics PLC (NASDAQ:ITRM) which was down 38.43% to 1.410 in late trade, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ARWR) which lost 25.75% to settle at 63.08 and Alterity Therapeutics Ltd (NASDAQ:ATHE) which was down 19.39% to 1.7250 at the close.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1642 to 1526 and 131 ended unchanged; on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, 2195 fell and 1218 advanced, while 144 ended unchanged on the New York Stock Exchange.
The CBOE Volatility Index, which measures the implied volatility of S&P 500 options, was down 2.65% to 15.07 a new 52-week low.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for August delivery was up 0.68% or 12.15 to $1788.95 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in August fell 0.04% or 0.03 to hit $75.20 a barrel, while the September Brent oil contract rose 0.44% or 0.33 to trade at $76.17 a barrel.
EUR/USD was up 0.15% to 1.1865, while USD/JPY fell 0.43% to 111.02.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.39% at 92.237.